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Dollhouse (series)
Dollhouse is a television series created by Joss Whedon and starring Eliza Dushku, centering around a secret organization that controls "dolls" or "Actives" and programs them to do any kind of required work, after which they get their memories erased and resort to a child-like state waiting for the next assignment. The series picks off at the moment when Dushku's character, Echo, starts to remember things between assignments. The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television , Dushku's Boston Diva Productions and Mutant Enemy, Whedon's production company. The first episode, "Ghost", aired on February 13 2009 on the Fox network. International pickups include Fox8 in Australia , CanWest in Canada and SciFi in UK . Fox picked up a second season of the show for the Fall of 2009, consisting of 13 episodes with an option to order 9 more for spring. Synopsis }} In Dollhouse, Dushku plays a young woman named Echo, a member of a group of people known as "Actives" or "Dolls" who volunteered for the work in the Dollhouse. They give up five years of their lives, and at the end they receive a large sum of money and no memory of anything they did for the Dollhouse. The Dolls have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments. They're then hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies, and occasional good deeds. On missions, Actives are monitored internally (and remotely) by Handlers. In between tasks, they are mind-wiped into a child-like state and live in a futuristic dormitory/laboratory, a hidden facility nicknamed "The Dollhouse". The story follows Echo, who begins, in her mind-wiped state, to become self-aware. This storyline will be the "overriding mythology of the show". Beyond Dushku's character, the show will also revolve around the people who run the mysterious "Dollhouse" and other "Dolls", like Sierra. Although the Actives are ostensibly volunteers, the operation is highly illegal and under constant threat from Paul Ballard, a determined federal agent who has heard a rumor about the dolls on one end and an insane rogue Active on the other. Cast & Characters Main Characters *Eliza Dushku as Echo *Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton *Fran Kranz as Topher Brink *Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard *Enver Gjokaj as Victor *Dichen Lachman as Sierra *Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt Recurring Roles *Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders *Miracle Laurie as November *Reed Diamond as Laurence Dominic *Alan Tudyk as Alpha *Liza Lapira as Ivy *Kevin Kilner as Joe Hearn *Aisha Hinds as Loomis *Mark Sheppard as Graham Tanaka Format Story Dollhouse is a hybrid between a procedural show and a serialized show. Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said early on that "It was a fresh idea that didn't promise to become overwhelmed by mythology" Joss Whedon also highlights this adventure-of-the-week-aspect of the show: "'Who would want them to do this and why?' is sort of what keeps it interesting every week." Whedon also said that the show will also include "B stories", expanding the scope beyond Echo: "Sometimes there will be B stories – we’ll always see the workings of the Dollhouse, but we’ll also see other Actives on other engagements, and sometimes they’ll just be B stories, sometimes they’ll cross over or sometimes they’ll just connect thematically." The basic premise of the show, that Echo can be whatever the audience wants her to be, is what keeps the episodes together: "Ultimately, you’ll find the one thing that every episode has in common is that Echo is the person you need at that point in your life to either turn your life around, to give you the moment you thought you’d never have, or to pull you out of a place you think you can’t get out of. Or to rob the bank. Whatever it is, she’s a kind of life coach, without even meaning to be. She’s always the perfect person for whatever it is you need." }} The serialized aspects of the show revolve around Echo's growing self-awareness and a rogue Active outside the Dollhouse. Whedon asked fans to be patient with the unfolding storyline: "We’re trying to create something that’s more than the sum of its parts. And not just in an 'Oooh, we’re heavy with mythology' way. Dare I say we're reaching for something more philosophical?" He also commented on the hybrid format of storytelling: "I don't enjoy a show that only gets you to watch the next one; where they're trying to come up with something more outlandish every five minutes. I've always believed in a show where every episode contains something that's resolved and the mythology surrounding that becomes what the audience is interested in regardless. Its legitimate for network to say, 'start out in this fashion where people can come on board anytime and then let the characters who inhabit the world take over the narrative gradually.'" It is probably notable that every Whedon show has started out as a hybrid between procedural and serialized storytelling, before the characters gradually took over the narrative. Whedon said that the sixth episode will be the point where Dollhouse shifts from stand-alone to serialized: "The first five are all very much standalones. The sixth gets into working of the Dollhouse" Production Origin Dollhouse was created during a lunch between Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku where they discussed her career and her recent development deal with Fox. Inspired by Dushku's life as an actress, Whedon came up with the premise of people who were hired out to be everybody's fantasy. He pitched Dollhouse to Fox two weeks before the 2007-2008 WGA strike and got a seven-episode order without even having begun to write a pilot episode. After the strike ended, Whedon started working on the script for "Echo" and casting sides. In February 2008 Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft joined the writers staff after being fired from Women's Murder Club. Other writers confirmed to participate in Dollhouse include Tim Minear, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. First casting-news surfaced on March 27th , while Joss Whedon announced the final cast members on April 17th. Production on "Echo" began on April 23rd. Craft and Fain were announced as Dollhouse-showrunners at the Fox Upfronts in May 2008. At this time Tim Minear and Steven DeKnight were announced as consulting producers. A trailer containing parts of "Echo" was shown at the Upfronts and consequently leaked on the internet. Another clip from "Echo", showing a Dialog between Echo and Paul Ballard, also leaked around that time. Season 1 Dollhouse evetually got a thirteen episodes commitment by Fox and will have a longer run-time than usual hour-long shows since it is part of Fox' "Remote-free TV"-program, cutting down the advertisement time per episode to five minutes. Whedon described this move as "a little less heartache in the editing room" . Dollhouse will also be the first production credit for Dushku (and her production company Boston Diva Productions). On July 22nd, 2008 Whedon announced he was planning to shoot a significant number of Dollhouse webisodes -- one for every regular episode produced. Retooling }} Also on July 22nd Whedon announced that "Echo" would not be the first episode, as originally intended, and that a new first episode would be produced. This decision was made (by him, not by Fox) because of "a few clarity issues for some viewers" and "also some slight issues with tone" in "Echo". "Ghost" was produced in August 2008 and became the new first episode. By October 2008 "Echo" has disappeared from official episode listings. In September 2008 Whedon halted production on Dollhouse for two weeks after finishing three episodes to concentrate on future scripts. Around that time it was also announced that the theme song for Dollhouse will be written by Jonatha Brooke and Eric Bazilian. The planned webisodes have also been cancelled during the retooling. "In an awesome groove" On November 4th, 2008 a new trailer showed up on Youtube. Also in November 2008 Fox announced the Friday-9pm-slot for Dollhouse and the premiere date. Joss Whedon commented on this much-debated move by saying: "If I were an executive, I would have put it on Friday too, honestly, and not as a dig. The people who want this will find it, and hopefully more will as well. Fox is aware that TV just doesn’t exist the same way. People watch it online, on DVD, on their TiVos. It’s not the end of the world, but of course everyone's been predicting the end of the world for 'Dollhouse' since it was announced." Eliza Dushku also commented on the timeslot: "We're in the age of DVR, man. People watch what they want to watch, and we feel confident that we're going to bring existing fans and welcome new ones. The show is extraordinary. It's cool and it's hot and it's different. It's nice being paired with Sarah Connor Chronicles as a sort of female empowerment night. It takes a little bit of the pressure off airing on Mondays, with 24 coming on after two years. I think the time slot gives us time to come on, air all of our shows and hook people. And I truly believe it will." Dushku also added that the show is "in an awesome groove": "The scripts are tight and exciting, and we've definitely upped the action." Joss Whedon said that "things are running smoothly, but whew, doggy." and that "it's getting complicated but ultimately I feel like it rolls out pretty nicely and as the show progresses it really starts to become something more than the sum of its parts." Consulting producer Jane Espenson also dismissed the media-generated-negativity around the retooling of the show as "overblown": "We are now rolling along glitch-free. I think people are very confident now that everyone is on the same page with what the show is, how amazing it can be, and I think that a lot of this of production interruptions, a bad timeslot and network meddling has been overblown." "Epitaph One" In April 2009 a minor controversy arose in the media concerning the thirteenth episode of Season 1, "Epitaph One". Actress Felicia Day, who has a guest role in that episode, announced that the episode won't air, causing fans of the show to think that Fox might have canceled the show. However, Tim Minear cleared up on whedonesque.com that the episode was shot out of contractual obligations on behalf of 20th Century Fox Television to deliver 13 episodes for oversea sales and the DVD. It was not shot as part of the 13 episode-order Fox Broadcasting Company paid for, since FBC bought and paid for 13 episodes which included the discarded original pilot, "Echo", hence getting only 12 airable episodes and ending the season with "Omega". Since "Epitaph One" was not licensed by the network, it was shot with half the budget a normal episode would require. The controversy around "Epitaph One" soon dissipated when it became clear that FBC never intended to air the episode. The omission of "Epitaph One" from the airing schedule was therefore not to be taken as sign that the show was canceled. Ironically, "Epitaph One" might have been crucial in securing the show a second season, since it was screened during the renewal-negotiations between the network and the studio, and proved that Dollhouse can deliver quality with a smaller budget. Season 2 In May 2009 the show was picked up by Fox for a second season with a reduced budget. The writers room started working on Season 2 on June 2nd, 2009. The writers room for Season 2 will include Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters as consulting producers who will take over the spots vacated by Craft & Fain who left the show after Season 1 to be consulting producers on Lie to Me. Whedon commented on plotting the second season: "About two hours after starting to talk to the writers about story, I was back with such a vengeance, and so energized and so pumped because we really understand the show now. We understand what works, and what didn't work so well or what we weren't so thrilled about. We don't have the onus of trying to be a big hit sitting on our shoulders. We can just be ourselves. And so the stories we're breaking are pure, and exciting, and everybody's on-board in the room, and it's never flowed better." Eliza Dushku said that in season two "there would definitely be some storylines following gay and lesbian characters, and some storylines that would follow her own 'adventures' she’s had traveling to Uganda assisting the rehabilitation of child soldiers." She also hinted that Whedon alumnus Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Dr. Horrible) might appear. Miracle Laurie announced in July 2009 that she will be in the second season. In a TV Guide interview, Whedon said he is unconcerned about the reduced budget for season 2. There will be both story arcs and standalone episodes. Alan Tudyk will return later, but Alpha will be a "looming presence." Amy Acker will only be in three episodes due to her commitment to ABC's Happy Town. The question of why Paul demanded November's freedom and not Echo's will come up early on. We'll see more of Victor and Sierra and we'll see how everyone ended up at the Dollhouse. Production on "Vows" started on July 22nd 2009. At the Dollhouse panel at San Diego Comic Con, Whedon presented "Epitaph One" and revealed some details about the second season. More dolls will deal with issues of disfigurement. Victor will recover from his disfigurement "rather quickly." and hinted at it having “a couple of other faces you recognize.” As time wore on though, so did his penchant for secrecy and Whedon dropped two names: Alexis Denisof and Summer Glau. Angel regular Alexis Denisof is set to appear in a few episodes. While Whedon made sure to clarify that, at this point, Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chornicles) is still a “maybe”. They’re still working out the details, but if everything goes as planned, she will indeed be on the show. John Cassaday will direct an episode. The first episode of season two, "Vows", will include a flash forward with the characters of "Epitaph One". Distribution Broadcast The first season aired between February 13 and May 8 2009 on Friday night, 9/8c on Fox. The run was uninterrupted save for one week (April 17). The first 9 episodes (February 13 - April 10) of Dollhouse had Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles as its lead-in, the last three episodes (April 24 - May 8) followed Prison Break. It is currently rumored that the first season coda, "Epitaph One", might be aired by Fox, although no airdate has been confirmed yet. Ratings Typical for a Friday show, viewership figures for Dollhouse have been low. Nevertheless, it has consistently outperformed its lead-in in the 18-49 demographic and shown a strong increase via DVR viewing. Dollhouse premiered with "Ghost" with 4.778 million Live+SD viewers and a 2.00/6 Live+SD 18-49 rating/share. The finale of Season 1, "Omega", reached 2.7 million Live+SD viewers and a 1.0/4 Live+SD rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. The first season averaged 3.719 million Live+SD viewers per episode, with a 1.46/5 Live+SD rating/share average in the 18-49 demographic. According to the Fox press release, the first season ranked #1 in its Friday 9pm time period among Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34 and #2 with Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, Women 18-34, and Men 18-49/25-54. It delivered Fox's highest-rated Friday series premiere, "Ghost" in over four years (since Jonny Zero's premiere on 1/14/05) among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34. The first season also delivered an educated audience, surpassing its Total U.S Adults 18-49 average in "Adults 18-49 with 4+ Years of College" and averaged a +40% increase from Live+SD to Live+7, making it the #1 most time-shifted show on network television. International Broadcasts The US, Canada and Australia airings of of the first season didn't include episode 1x13 "Epitaph One". The UK premiere reached 263.000 viewers (1.3%) on Sci Fi, with further 76.000 (0.5%) tuning in on timeshift. "Briar Rose" reached 110.00 viewers (0.7%) and "Omega" 152.000 (0.8%). DVD 20th Century Fox Television released Region 1 versions of the Dollhouse Season One DVD set and the Blu-Ray set on July 28th, 2009. Region 2 will follow on September 14th, 2009. List of Episodes Season 1: 2009 Season 2: 2009 Notes & References External links *[http://www.fox.com/dollhouse/ Official Dollhouse-Homepage] *Official Wiki/fan community *[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dollhouse/14409357519 Dollhouse @ Facebook] *[http://www.tv.com/dollhouse/show/75224/summary.html Dollhouse @ tv.com] *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135300/ Dollhouse @ imdb]